Thursday, December 17, 2015In Gurgaon, Nearly 100,000 Suffer from Shortness of Breath EverydayAuthorities in the National Capital Region (NCR), despite various formulas like car-free day and the proposed odd-even formula have not been able to check the rising air pollution in the region leaving several people's lungs affected. Over one lakh cases of asthma and various other respiratory diseases emerged in Gurgaon from January to October 2015. These include over 53,000 cases registered in the out-patient department of the city civil hospital alone. Besides this, around 46,000 patients, who were suffering respiratory ailments, consulted different private hospitals.

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An alarming five per cent of the city's 20 lakh population suffers from shortness of breath, below par lung capacity and obstructive airway diseases like asthma. The quality of air in the Millennium City has deteriorated owing to the huge volume of vehicular movement and large number of industrial units that release toxic effluents into the air leading to a variety of respiration-related ailments. According to available data, in 2014, there were 26,149 respiratory patients who came to the civil hospital and this number rose sharply in the past 10 months to 27,291. There was a 25 per cent rise in the number of such patients in private hospitals.

"It has been observed that there is a 20 per cent increase of respiratory patients in last two months and with winter setting in and the fog intensifying, the frequency of patients is expected to rise in the next 40 days," said Kanta Goyal, PMO of Gurgaon civil hospital. She added that people will have to avoid morning walks as the quantity of smoke is much higher during the time in winters.

Air pollution or traffic-related air pollution and indoor air pollution caused by passive smoking and biomass fuel combustion is associated with the development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The situation is particularly bad in NCR, where the recent pollution levels have been reported to be much higher than the acceptable limits on most days of the year, sometimes as high as 35 times the normal limits.

Though, the Gurgaon civil hospital is generally frequented by patients belonging to the lower income group and labourers for respiratory problems, the situation in people of the elite class is not different.

• The Surgeon General has determined that there is no safe level of exposure to ambient smoke!

• If you smell even a subtle odor of smoke, you are being exposed to poisonous and carcinogenic chemical compounds!

• Even a brief exposure to smoke raises blood pressure, (no matter what your state of health) and can cause blood clotting, stroke, or heart attack in vulnerable people. Even children experience elevated blood pressure when exposed to smoke!

• Since smoke drastically weakens the lungs' immune system, avoiding smoke is one of the best ways to prevent colds, flu, bronchitis, or risk of an even more serious respiratory illness, such as pneumonia or tuberculosis! Does your child have the flu? Chances are they have been exposed to ambient smoke!